Any Anaheim resort that receives subsidies from the city must pay its employees a minimum wage of at least about $20 an hour according to the voter-approved Measure L.
But Disneyland claims that its resort doesn’t receive subsidies from Anaheim, says columnist Gustavo Arellano.
“There was another law that basically said if there was ever a gate tax passed against Disney, that the city would have to reimburse Disneyland for those, but Disney ripped those apart and said this minimum wage law is not applicable to us at all,” Arellano says.
In the past, the city of Anaheim offered tax rebates to help Disneyland expand, but the resort refused to accept these offers after Measure L passed in 2018. This gets complicated because in 1996, Disneyland agreed to cover bond payments for the city of Anaheim if it fell short. The city would repay Disneyland later, and this repayment helped build the Mickey & Friends parking garage in 1997.
“The judges in the appellate court said: That doesn't matter if Disney has never received any sort of rebates, or the city has covered any sort of money on the bond payments that created specifically a huge parking structure. … The very idea that Disney … can get something from the city because of this, that makes Measure L applicable to them as well, so therefore … if this ruling stands, it will have to pay at least $20 an hour for … thousands of workers in the Disneyland Resort,” Arellano says.
This shows a gradual shift in attitude towards Disneyland in Anaheim, Arellano says. Whereas the city council still stays friendly with the Mouse, voters and workers’ unions like Unite Here Local 11 continue to push for better wages at the happiest place on Earth.